Lesson 2 from the Series Kingdom, Covenants & Canon of the Old Testament

The Kingdom of God

Lesson 2 from the series Kingdom, Covenants & Canon of the Old Testament

Study Guide

Contentspage

Outline — An outline of the lesson, including the time code on the DVD at which each section begins. / 2
Notes — A template that provides: the lesson outline; key notes, quotations and summaries from the lesson; and space for writing additional notes. / 3
Review Questions — Questions on the basic content of the lesson, and space for writing answers; suitable for written assignments and tests. / 22
Application Questions — Questions relating the content of the lesson to Christian living, theology and ministry; suitable for group discussions, written assignments and tests. / 28

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Series: Kingdom, Covenants & Canon of the Old Testament

Lesson 2: The Kingdom of God

Outline

I. Introduction (0:26)

II. Broad and Narrow (2:50)

A. Unchanging (3:24)

B. Developing (5:10)

III. Primeval History (12:35)

A. Place (13:21)

1. Initial Preparations (13:59)

2. Ongoing Expansion (19:16)

B. People (21:37)

1. Priests (23:12)

2. Vice-Regents (24:58)

C. Progress (28:48)

1. Cosmic Treason (29:29)

2. Corruption and Judgment (31:02)

3. Long-term strategy (32:58)

IV. Nation of Israel (37:40)

A. Place (38:30)

1. OriginalCenter (40:38)

2. Extension (43:28)

B. People (45:40)

1. Selection of Israel (46:27)

2. Kingdom of Priests (47:59)

3. Priests and Kings (49:38)

C. Progress (50:48)

1. Promise (51:45)

2. Exodus and Conquest (54:40)

3. Empire (57:51)

V. New Testament (1:4:52)

A. Place (1:6:36)

1. Center (1:6:58)

2. Expansion (1:10:57)

B. People (1:12:17)

1. Christ (1:13:29)

2. Believers (1:18:21)

C. Progress (1:20:42)

1. Inauguration (1:23:07)

2. Continuation (1:23:30)

3. Consummation (1:24:10)

VI. Summary (1:25:35)

Series: Kingdom, Covenants & Canon of the Old Testament

Lesson 2: The Kingdom of God

Notes

I.Introduction

II.Broad and Narrow

A.Unchanging

God has always had and always will have unwavering kingship over his creation.

B.Developing

The kingdom of God develops, ebbs and flows, and eventually extends over the entire world.

The kingdom of God comes to earth and transforms it, so that the earth mirrors the standards and glories of heaven.

The Old Testament promised that God would one day redeem, renew and perfect the earth so that it reflected the wonder of heaven.

We should ask God to come to the earth in his glorious, royal splendor.

III.Primeval History

A.Place

Genesis 1 explains how God first began to establish the earth as the location of his kingdom.

1.Initial Preparations

Genesis chapter 1 focuses on the way God first prepared the world to become his kingdom.

Genesis 1:2–2:3: God began forming the earth into a place for his glorious reign in a threefold structure.

Genesis 1:3-31: Six days of ordering in creation. God made the world fit to become his kingdom.

In days one through three, God dealt with the fact that the world was formless.

In days four through six, God dealt with the fact the world was empty.

“creation was good” — God approved of his work in a moral sense:

He had significantly restrained the chaos, the darkness and the deep.

He had brought order to the world.

Tov in Hebrew denotes:

pleasant

pleasing

beautiful

2.Ongoing Expansion

Genesis 2: The entire world had been ordered to some extent, but only Eden could be called a paradise.

Edenin Hebrew means

pleasant

pleasing

Eden was God’s special delight.

B.People

God ordained the human race as his kingdom servants, the instruments by which God would complete his preparations for the earth to become his kingdom.

The job for which God created humanity was too great for one creature to accomplish on his own.

1.Priests

Adam and Eve were given jobs of priestly service.

Adam and Eve’s role in the garden is described in ways that reflect the technical description of the Levites’ service to God.

2.Vice-Regents

Adam and Eve were ordained as royalty, as God’s vice-regents. They were royal priests.

God called his royal image to multiply numerically and to fill:

the garden of Eden

the entire earth

God ordained humanity to have dominion over:

the garden of Eden

the entire earth

The great king of heaven ordained humanity as the instrument for kingdom expansion.

C.Progress

1.Cosmic Treason

Because of Adam and Eve’s rebellion:

Humanity and the earth were cursed.

Multiplication and dominion became difficult, frustrating and painful.

Humanity was forced to:

dwell in a hostile world

experience pain and futility in living as God’s image

2.Corruption and Judgment

Humanity continued to pursue a path of corruption that eventually led to severe judgment from God.

3.Long-term strategy

God designed a long-term strategy for extending his kingdom throughout the world.

God determined to redeem a select group of human beings from the dominion of sin, and to build his kingdom through them.

Satan and those human beings who followed him would trouble Eve’s seed. But eventually her true descendants, redeemed humanity, would conquer the enemy.

God established stability in nature and removed the threat of a second worldwide flood so that his redeemed images could fulfill humanity’s original task.

The historical kingdom of God:

began in Eden

was to be extended throughout the entire earth by God’s priestly and royal images, the human race

IV.Nation of Israel

A.Place

Because Abraham was the father of Israel, God’s dealings with Abraham set the course for everything God would do through Israel.

Abraham’s Promised Land became the geographical center for God’s activities in the world from this time forward.

1.OriginalCenter

The original center of God’s earthly kingdom was Eden.

God called Abraham back to the vicinity of the Garden of Eden.

2.Extension

God gave the land to Old Testament Israel as a staging ground for extending his reign to the ends of the earth.

Through a process of blessing and cursing nations in response to their reaction to Abraham’s family, all peoples would eventually be blessed.

Abraham’s blessing would reach all families throughout the earth.

B.People

1.Selection of Israel

The tribes of Israel were the special people of God’s kingdom.

2.Kingdom of Priests

The designation of Israel as a kingdom of priests shows that Israel continued to fulfill the twofold role of Adam and Eve:

Kings

Priests

3.Priests and Kings

Some Israelites were given the specialized offices of priest and king.

Aaron and his descendants were to serve God as his priests.

David and his descendants were ordained to serve as kings of God’s people.

C.Progress

The kingdom of God made advances, but because of human sinfulness, these advances did not spread God’s kingdom to the ends of the earth.

1.Promise

During the days of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the twelve heads of Israel’s tribes, God made many promises about the future of Israel.

2.Exodus and Conquest

God promised Abraham that his descendants would possess the holy land of Canaan.

God promised that his special people Israel would have dominion and enjoy prosperity in the Land of Promise.

God was leading his people toward his holy dwelling as their Shepherding King.

God intended to establish Israel as the people who would surround his royal throne.

3.Empire

During the imperial stage of Israel’s history,Israel became an established nation with a king and temple.

David and his son Solomon moved God’s kingdom on earth forward by establishing Jerusalem as the location of the king and the temple.

David’s royal family would represent God’s rule on earth.

As God’s kingdom spread through the reign of David’s house, God’s glorious presence would fill the whole world, just as it fills heaven.

V.New Testament

The New Testament gospel or the good news of Christ is an outworking of the Old Testament theme of the kingdom of God.

The gospel is a message about the kingdom of God.

A.Place

1.Center

The kingdom of God in the New Testament is centered in Israel.

By the time of Jesus, the people of Israel had been exiled, scattered and tyrannized by five pagan empires for hundreds of years:

The Assyrians

The Babylonians

The Medes and Persians

The Greeks

The Romans

Jesus came to earth to end this exile.

2.Expansion

The New Testament teaches that one day the hope of worldwide expansion will actually be fulfilled in Christ.

B.People

God ordained that his worldwide kingdom would mirror his kingdom in heaven. This was to take place through the work of his image, the human race.

1.Christ

a.Last Adam

Christ reversed the curse that Adam had brought.

Adam’s sin condemned humanity

Jesus’ obedience fulfilled humanity’s role as God’s image

Because humanity’s death came through a man (Adam), humanity’s resurrection also had to come through a man (Christ.).

b.Priest and King

Christ also fulfills the kingdom offices of priest and king.

Because Christ perfectly fulfills the office of king, the kingdom of God will never end.

Through Christ’s leadership as priest and king, God’s kingdom will come to earth as it is in heaven.

2.Believers

Everyone who follows Christis counted among the people of God and given the role of building the kingdom of God.

As we follow Christ and live in the power of his Spirit, we are all the special, chosen instruments of the kingdom of God.

C.Progress

The kingdom of God would begin small. In time it would grow to be the largest kingdom the world has ever known.

1.Inauguration

Jesus and his apostles inaugurated the glorious kingdom of God on earth.

2.Continuation

The continuation of the kingdom spans all of church history between the first and second coming of Christ. This is the time in which we live.

3.Consummation

The time when Christ returns and fulfills God’s plan to turn the whole world into his kingdom.

VI.Summary

Series: Kingdom, Covenants & Canon of the Old Testament

Lesson 2: The Kingdom of God

Review Questions

1. Describe the Old Testament’s teaching on God’s complete and unchanging sovereignty.

2. In what ways does the Bible speak of God’s kingdom developing?

3. Describe how the primeval history first established the place of God’s kingdom.

4. Describe God’s intended role for people in the establishment and preparation of God’s kingdom.

5. Briefly sketch the progress of God’s kingdom during the primeval period.

6. What was the place of the kingdom during the days of ancient Israel?

7. How did the people of ancient Israel establish and prepare God’s kingdom?

8. Describe the progress of God’s kingdom during the time of ancient Israel.

9. What does the New Testament say about the place of God’s kingdom?

10. How does the New Testament describe the people of the kingdom of God?

11. Explain the New Testament’s teaching about the progression of God’s kingdom.

Series: Kingdom, Covenants & Canon of the Old Testament

Lesson 2: The Kingdom of God

Application Questions

1.What did Jesus mean in Matthew 6:9-10 when he taught his disciples to pray “your kingdom come”?

2.When God created the earth, he judged it to be good. And after humanity’s fall into sin, God established a long-term strategy for redeeming the earth from its fallen state. In light of God’s program for redemption, how should Christians view the earth?

3.In God’s kingdom strategy, people are his chosen instruments bywhich he is preparing the earth to become his kingdom. What implications does this have for your interactions with others? What does it imply about the significance of individual service to God?

4.What kind of kingdom is God establishing? When God’s kingdom is manifested on earth as it is now manifested in heaven, what will life on earth be like?

5.What is the connection between the gospel and the kingdom of God? How does knowing this connection enrich your understanding of the gospel?

6.What is the most significant insight you have learned from this study? Why?

Series: Kingdom, Covenants & Canon of the Old Testament

Lesson 2: The Kingdom of God